When you’re a migrant, be it a refugee or an immigrant, you’re forever an outsider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’re no longer fully of the culture you left and you’ll never be a true native in the one you’ve joined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the one hand, this can be a source of anxiety and insecurity. The desire to belong is encoded in our very bodies: it’s in the shape of our vocal folds and the size of our neocortex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, it can be a lowkey permanent ecstasy \u2013 ek stasis<\/em>: to be or stand outside oneself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To be uprooted, is to be ungrounded and thus free from the assumptions that often prevent us from understanding why we are the way we are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, challenges engender advantages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n because<\/strong><\/p><\/td>\n I have never shared most of the childhood references of my cohorts. <\/p><\/td>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you’re a migrant, be it a refugee or an immigrant, you’re forever an outsider. You’re no longer fully of the culture you left and you’ll never be a true native in the one you’ve joined. On the one hand, this can be a source of anxiety and insecurity. The desire to belong is encoded in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,8,10,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8461"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8503,"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8461\/revisions\/8503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.josemarquez.com\/etc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n \n therefore<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>\n \n\n \n \n I study the way that culture bonds us with greater interest than an anthropologist. <\/td><\/tr>\n \n \nI was not raised with the same historical memory as the nation to which I pledge allegiance.<\/td>\n \nI do not assume \u2013 as most do, incorrectly \u2013 that society shares my political beliefs. <\/td><\/tr>\n \n \nI have never known a before without alienation; there is nowhere I can “return” to.<\/td>\n I believe progress is possible but not inevitable; I don’t believe there is a golden era in our past.<\/td><\/tr>\n \n \nI had to find the equivalent of words to communicate and often mangled aphorisms.<\/td>\n \nI encountered language as opaque, rather than transparent; as a social construct rather than a neutral medium. I developed a habit for etymology.<\/td><\/tr>\n \n \nI did not view the characters on TV and in movies as familiar.<\/td>\n \nRelatable characters are predictable, boring. I expect characters to expand and challenge my sense of the world, rather than mirror and confirm it.<\/td><\/tr>\n \n \nI am so accustomed to imposter syndrome that I understand it is as natural, necessary.<\/td>\n \nWhen I conceive of subjects, protagonists, I instinctively imbue them with skepticism.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n